ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis activist on Friday pleaded not guilty to federal gun charges.
Michael J. Avery, 29, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on a felony charge of possession of an unregistered silencer and a felony charge of being a user of illegal drugs in possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors say Avery last year had a silencer and a .22 caliber pistol with a threaded barrel to accommodate the silencer, according to court documents. He also accidentally shot himself on June 23, during a protest, with a .300-caliber firearm, the court documents say, while he was illegally using marijuana.
Police and bystanders at the time of the protest, which was held in Florissant after a detective hit a suspect with a police SUV, said a man shot himself in the foot.
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During a hearing Friday held via Zoom, Avery’s lawyer, Marleen Suarez, said Avery was not a danger to the community, saying he no longer has the silencer and adding that Florissant police had declined to charge him for the accidental firearm discharge.
She also said he is only an occasional recreational user of marijuana. Avery was supposed to lead a protest in Fredericktown, Missouri, on Friday, Suarez said. Fredericktown is about 90 miles south of St. Louis.
Avery was expected to be released from jail Friday following the latest charges. In an email after the hearing, Suarez said “we will be zealously defending these charges.”
Avery was arrested May 31 on a federal rioting charge during protests that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The FBI accused him of using social media to encourage looting and violence in St. Louis.
Previous lawyers for Avery said his social media posts were misinterpreted, and fellow activists defended him, saying he never was involved in violence at protests. The criminal complaint was dismissed less than three weeks later, with prosecutors saying the investigation was ongoing.
Avery, who lives in the St. Louis area, is a single father of a 4-year-old daughter and owns a lawn care business, Suarez said. He also works with Bring Them Home Search and Rescue STL to find missing area youth.